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Thirty Years Ago Attempts by a group of nude bathers to expand the number of swimsuit-optional beaches in San Diego seem headed for some rough waters. Hoping to find more room for a crowd that numbers up to 16,500 on a sunny Sunday at Black's Beach, the Nude Beaches Committee last week presented the city council with plans for three new spots for skinny-dippers. The proposed beaches, one at the south end of Sunset Cliffs, another at the mouth of the San Diego River, and a third north of Crystal Pier in Pacific Beach all have what the committee deems as necessary requirements: easy access, ample parking and some degree of isolation. -- CITY LIGHTS: "COUNCIL SHY ON NUDE BEACHES," July 31, 1975

Twenty Years Ago As for the heterosexuals, one word summed up the attraction for them: Subic. Subic is a catchall name for the area just outside the naval base the United States maintains in the Philippines. It includes the town of Olongapo, Subic City, and the barrio between them. It is well known to sailors of both the Pacific and Atlantic fleets. It is an adult Disneyland, a porno theme park where every sexual fantasy imaginable can be lived out for a few pesos. Most of the men are just lonely and horny sailors, but lost souls, deviants, and men in the throes of a midlife crisis could also find solace and an ego boost there. For some men, the seediness and squalor was an aphrodisiac. -- "THE NEPTUNE LESSON," Glenn Wallace, August 1, 1985

Fifteen Years Ago We remained clinging to the mangroves for much of the night, until the ebb began. Soaked through as we were and lighted up on dex, the night breezes cooled, then tormented us. During the day we had baked, now we trembled with cold and could not still our teeth. But we could hack this Rung Sat cold. Rung Sat cold did not compare with the cold of freezing winter surf we had endured to the point of hypothermia and beyond during our training off the Silver Strand. Cold was our meat. Screw it on. Hoo Yah! -- "REAL SEAL," Bill Salisbury, August 2,1990

Ten Years Ago Is San Diego jinxed? You have to wonder, with the stretch of bad luck that has greeted recent attempts at bringing significant concert events to town. There's the Pearl Jam mess, of course. There is Lollpalooza blowing off S.D. again. Earth, Wind & Fire canceled. Then there was the Bad Brains show earlier this month, another frustrating affair for fans of arguably the greatest hardcore band ever.Bad Brains can be that good, but they need to have certain key things in place. Like their frontman, the inimitable HR, who never showed up the night of July 5, exactly one month after the band played an unsatisfyingly brief set of 20 minutes opening for the Beastie Boys at the Sports Arena. -- BLURT, David Stampone, July 27, 1995

Five Years Ago For years, rumors have swirled around the question of whether Copley Press, Inc., intends to sell off its newspaper empire, including San Diego's own Union-Tribune, to Chicago-based Tribune Company or another big media conglomerate. Elderly company matriarch Helen Copley, who inherited the newspapers from her late husband James in 1974, is said to be in poor health and has long been cloistered in her La Jolla mansion, called "Fox Hill." Her only heir, son David, who is titular president of the company, lives in a compound of houses he calls "Fox Hole," just down the street from his mother's place, and has seemed more interested in collecting antiques and yachting on the French Riviera than the newspaper business. -- CITY LIGHTS: "ON THE BLOCK," Matt Potter, July 27, 2000